POULTRY 



651 



If the yards are long, they can he 

 plowed when they become befouled. 

 Under the better conditions of manage- 

 ment, each flock has two running yards, 

 one of which may be in crops, while the 

 other is being used. Chickens and fruit 

 growing go well together and it is a 

 common practice to plant a row of fruit 

 trees down the chicken yard, both for 

 shade and profit. 



CHARACTERISTICS OF EGGS 



Weight — The weight of hen's eggs 

 varies considerably. Hens lay from 3 

 to 4 per cent larger eggs usually than 

 pullets. Hens with exercise lay larger 



Composition — Relative to the compo- 

 sition of eggs many analyses show that 

 a 2-ounce egg contains on the average 

 10.7 per cent shell, Q6 per cent water, 12 

 per cent protein, 10.5 per cent fat and 8 

 per cent ash. The Michigan station 

 found there was practically no difference 

 in the composition of eggs laid by six 

 different breeds of hens. Feeding wide- 

 ly different rations did not affect the 

 composition of the eggs. White and 

 brown shelled eggs have practically the 

 same composition and food value. In- 

 vestigations at the Minnesota station 

 indicate that hard boiled eggs are as 

 easily digested as soft boiled eggs. 



Fig. 415 — HOUSES AND YARDS OF A RHODE ISLAND POULTRYMAN IN WINTER 



eggs than those without exercise. In an 

 examination of hundreds of eggs of dif- 

 ferent breeds of poultry by the North 

 Carolina station, the following weights 

 were obtained in the case of pullets: 

 Barred Plymouth Rocks, 24.2 ounces a 

 dozen ; White Plymouth and White 

 Wyandottes, 23.3 ounces; Silver Laced 

 Wyandottes, 22.1 ; Brown Leghorns ITY2 

 ounces; Black Minorcas, 26V2 ounces; 

 Black Langshans and Buff Cochins, 24.1 

 ounces; Light Brahma pullets, 23.4 

 ounces; Light Brahma hens, 28 ounces. 

 It is thus seen that the value by weight 

 of the eggs of some breeds is from 25 

 to 50 per cent more than those of other 

 breeds. 



Flavor — While the composition of 

 eggs is not easily changed by feeding, 

 the flavor may be. A half ounce of 

 onion tops was fed daily to each of the 

 hens in a laying pen at the North 

 Carolina station for 15 days before the 

 flavor could be distinctly noted. When 

 an ounce was fed, the flavor was noticed 

 immediately, being so strong that the 

 eggs could not be eaten and could be 

 detected for seven days after the feed- 

 ing stopped. 



The color of the yolk i s easily influ- 

 enced by feeding. Wheat, oats or white 

 corn fed alone or in combination tends 

 to produce very light colored yolks, while 

 the feeding of yellow corn or cut green 



